It is the end of summer here in the Northern Hemisphere

I started writing yesterday and for reasons I don't recall, I was writing about swimming.  Hence the photos below.

What actually got me started was thinking about when and why I joined the Universal Unitarian (UU) Church of Sterling, Virginia.  I actually joined the UU church in Fairfax in 1998.  Nick and I had separated and I felt adrift.  The State Department was like home for me. I had been going there ever since I was a little kid, when my dad was in the Foreign Service.

Nick and I reconciled, and eventually I  stopped attending that congregation.  Then the pandemic hit and nobody went anywhere for a while- including church.

We (Nick and I) did attend a different congregation a few years ago, but at the time I was fairly handicapped by my knees and it was not a very accessible church.  But I digress.

Ever since Donald Trump became president for a second time, life has been stressful, annoying, frightening and altogether a big scary deal.  It feels like every day another liberty is at risk.  The rule of law feels like it is slipping away.  

And yet, our lives go on.  We get up.  have coffee.  feed the dog and let him go out to go to the bathroom (well, he doesn't ave a "bathroom" but he relieves himself)

Many of the people in my life, both here in the States and abroad express their fears and concerns about what is happening in America and to America.

Hate is such a strong word and a strong feeling.  But I find myself experiencing it.  I worry.  I fantasize about making things change somehow.   And yet, I have this glimmer of hope.  This love for what the America I love and imagine can be and will be again.  (fingers crossed).

And so, I joined the UU church again.  I knew that I would find like minded, sympathetic and dare I say, liberal people as I consider myself to be.

 This picture was taken by my sister when I "signed the book" the official way one joins a UU church.

As in 1998, when I first attended a UU church, I now feel like I have a church home.   

In April of this year, when I was in Maine, I attended the Rockland UU church and loved it! 

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Mission:

Seek, Love, and Serve Boldly

Covenant:

This congregation is dedicated to the proposition that behind all our differences and beneath all our diversities, there is a unity that binds us together and makes us one in spite of time and death and the space between the stars.   ~  David Baumbaugh

Vision:

We envision UUCS as…

• A Faith Community known throughout Loudoun County Virginia and beyond as an inclusive and enduring refuge for diversity in all its forms.
• A flagship congregation, being the change we wish to see in the world, nurturing all souls for courageous and transformative ministry.
• An evolving community breaking barriers to serve an increasing population within and beyond our walls.

 

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When I was a kid, ages 7 to at least 15, I used to spend most of my summer days at the pool.  I loved swimming.   My mom's rule was if it got below 65° outside I was not allowed to swim.  Of course, Washington summers rarely got that cool.  

I was a Camp Fire Girl and my Indian (Native American) name translated "fish out of water". 

 Nick and I went to Bali for our R&R when we were living in Bangkok.  This was Sanur Beach, Bali 1977

 

 

 Here I am a a hotel pool in Portland, Oregon July 2019 when we went  to Oregon for Morgan and Kim's wedding.  

 Post Script:

I am used to having a few people read my blog- maybe up to 35 or so.  But lately I have noticed hundreds of "views".   What the heck? 

Sanfilipo

 Thinking of my sweet grandniece Miri who should have turned 15 on September 14th. Gone too soon to Sanfilippo Syndrome

She started out as a completely normal baby and as a toddler she began showing signs of being "different".  By the time she died she was not able to walk or talk.   But she laughed and gave wonderful hugs  

Sanfilippo Syndrome

Sanfilippo syndrome is a group of rare genetic conditions that affect several body systems but mainly your child’s nervous system. It happens when their body can’t break down a certain substance, which builds up in cells and damages them. Symptoms of Sanfilippo syndrome begin in early childhood and worsen with time. The main treatment is symptom management.

 

 

Overview

Sanfilippo syndrome is a group of inherited lysosomal storage disorders that mainly affect a child’s central nervous system. It can cause certain facial features as well.

What is Sanfilippo syndrome?

Sanfilippo syndrome is a group of inherited (genetic) lysosomal storage disorders that mainly affect your child’s central nervous system (brain and spinal cord). It causes a variety of cognitive (mental), behavioral and physical symptoms that get worse over time. These symptoms lead to premature death.

Another name for this condition is mucopolysaccharidosis type III (MPS III).

Sanfilippo syndrome happens when there’s a deficiency in one of four enzymes that affect the breakdown (metabolism) of heparan sulfate. Heparan sulfate is a glycosaminoglycan (also known as a mucopolysaccharide), a complex carbohydrate. Because your child doesn’t have the proper enzyme to break down heparin sulfate, it builds up in their cells, tissues and organs, damaging them.

Sanfilippo syndrome types

There are four subtypes of Sanfilippo syndrome: types A, B, C and D. Each subtype results from a deficiency of a different enzyme:

• Type A: Sulfamidase deficiency.
• Type B: α-N-acetylglucosaminidase deficiency.
• Type C: Heparan acetyl CoA: α-glucosaminide N-acetyltransferase deficiency.
• Type D: N-acetylglucosamine 6-sulfatase deficiency.

How common is Sanfilippo syndrome?

Sanfilippo syndrome is rare. Researchers estimate that it affects 1 person per every 50,000 to 250,000 people. Sanfilippo syndrome type A is the most common subtype globally. Type D is the least common.

 

 

MPS III
(Sanfilippo syndrome)

MPS III is a mucopolysaccharide disease also known as Sanfilippo syndrome. It takes its name from Dr. Sylvester Sanfilippo, one of the U.S. doctors who described the condition in 1963.

Oh Canada!!

 

Here's the story as I remember it being told to me by my grandmother:

 

Both of my mother's parents, my grandparents, were Canadian.   Their first child, my Uncle George was born in the US.   When my grandmother was pregnant with my mother, Grandma's parents told her to come and stay with them in Canada.  George was still a baby and not even walking, so they knew that my grandmother would need help.   

 

My mother, Ruth, was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada exactly eleven months after George.   He was born May 21, 1925 and she was born April 21, 1926.   

 

Since my grandparents were Canadian and my mom was born in Canada, my mom was automatically a Canadian citizen.  George was born in the US and was an American citizen.

 

 This is a picture of my mom, Ruth- with the ball, and George with the bowl haircut.

 

I always knew that my mother was a naturalized American citizen- naturalized when she was 18.    Of all of my grandparent's children, my mom was the only one who was not born American.

 

Or so I thought.  As an adult, I accidentally learned about another baby who had died as an infant.  I was looking in the family bible that was in my grandmother's bedroom.  It was on a stand so you could read it standing up.  I was startled to see the name "Kenneth".    And a birth and death date.

 

I must have asked my grandmother about this because she told me about the baby who had died of pneumonia.  She said that she and my grandfather sat in the back seat of the undertaker's car  with a small, white coffin.   Only recently have I found where he is buried- in Detroit.

 

Genealogy searching on Ancestry.com  indicates that Kenneth (his real first name was Thomas) was born in Canada also.   I never knew that.

 

 I found his burial sight by looking at https://www.findagrave.com.

 

 

Photo added by Margarite McLeod

Thomas Kenneth Rivers

Birth

20 Jul 1927

Madoc, Peel Regional Municipality, Ontario, Canada

Death

11 Dec 1927 (aged 4 months)

Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA

Burial

Mount Olivet Cemetery

Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan, USA

Plot

Section 50, Tier 21, Space 97

 

 

What all of this is about is citizenship.    Ever since the current administration (Trump presidency) I have wondered if I could gain Canadian citizenship through of my mother.

 

After doing a lot of searching and obtaining a copy of my mother's birth certificate from Manitoba's department of Vital Statistics.

 

After doing a lot of browsing through Canada's immigration and citizenship websites, it appears that I might already be a Canadian citizen.  My sister as well!

 

I am sending in an "Applications for Citizenship Certificate"

 

I am doing the paperwork.    I doubt that I will use it to "escape" from America.  But it is nice to learn that I have options!